Perfect Time
by TYP340T4RD1S
Summary: Years and years and years upon years have passed. Meliodas is still running the bar, Ban's been roaming, life doesn't always turn out as you expect - sometimes it turns out different. But that is not necessarily a bad thing.


**Perfect Time - Chapter one**

"Come on, Johnson!" A young voice filled with joy exclaims into the traffic and the lights of the awakening city. It's night, but the partners are illuminated by yellow streetlamps still. Stinking cars stop as the lights turn red and a female drags the man across the damp road.

"Argh, where the hell are ya draggin' me off to? Somehow this feels like a kidnapping…" He mumbles the latter part.

"A bar! A bar, you'll see! It's got this amazing beer, but the foodstuff is shit!" The female waves her hands about as she talks, letting go of Johnson's rough hand.

"No reason to sound so happy 'bout it, Lisa… Wait. Did ya mention beer?"

"Yep!"

The mood has a happy expectance to it. Again, Lisa grabs the man's wrist and leads him down a dimly lit alleyway, it contrasts strongly with the lampposts from earlier and it makes it hard to see. The alley is dirty and they only catch a small glimpse of the starless sky above tall black buildings. Lisa's eyes, though, seems to light up the alleyway when they land upon a sign hanging out from one of the dark buildings.

"C'mon, Johnson, it's right in here!" Lisa gives Johnson's old suit a tug and opens the door. Loud laughter and boisterous voices, the warmth and merriment hit them as the light streams onto the pavement. "Hoh," Johnson is slightly impressed someone can whip up such a good mood, "Ya gotta introduce me to the master of the bar, girl."

Lisa looks over her bare shoulder as he closes the door behind him, making some of the guests look up. "Sure! I know the guy, I can introduce you guys!" She is energised as usual and fits right in with the bawdy and burly guests. "I'm a regular here, y'know!" Ah, that explained it.

"But never mind that! It's time to celebrate and drink ourselves under the table and into the hedge!" Johnson snorts at her nonsensical words and follows her on a wounding path through the establishment.

x

It had been raining earlier, the roads were damp now and the clocks continued to count down. He had only just retired from another job, this time a teaching position, he told them his plans of opening a bar and grow old with it. He did not open a new one, though; he went back to the old. He'd only been there for two or three years, he didn't quite remember, they hadn't noticed, but they soon would have.

He went by another name now, but there were constants still. The Boar Hat. The guests. The wars. His wrath. Elizabeth.

And his own face.

The passing of time. Years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds did nothing to change that.

Although it was still grey outside, leftovers from the poor weather earlier, he could still find the strength to smile. He had his own little niche, the bar; it was his home, his workplace, his solace and were all the memories hid. Though, even the Boar Hat looked different nowadays.

The phone rings. Its high-pitched tone pierce through the calm atmosphere and rips it to pieces. The man quickly slides over the counter to pick it up.

"Hello, hello, hello! This is the Boar Hat, what can I do for you?" He says it while making faces at the mirror between the bottles and flasks, fingering with the collar of his hoodie and adjusting the baggy sweater he is wearing over it.

"Sir, this is serious. We've picked up a strong signal in your area."

The man blinks "Heh? Alexei. What do you mean?"

"We've picked up a power level at around 32,500. It has been circulating in your area for some time now… Sir?" In a not-entirely normal, grey room, somewhere not important, a soft and amused laughter drifts out of a telephone.

"I see you've taken good use of the eye?"

"Sir, yes, but Sir, this is not a laughing matter, there's an incredibly strong presence in your area, should we evacuate?"

"Maybe."

"Please don't say it like that, sir! Wait, what do you mean 'maybe'? Do you know where it originates?"

"Yes. It's me. I'm the source."

"Sir, now is really not the time to joke! Should we evac?"

"See ya, Alexei, nice to chat." He hangs up the phone to splutters and protests and looks out the window. It's raining again.

x

Later, Alexei calls him again to inform him of another, external, power level. It lies at around 3,200.

x

He lies slouched over the bar's counter, drunk and halfway asleep. His sleeves rolled up. Lisa is rambling her mouth off as she does when she gets drunk, she is currently complaining about the poor quality food of the bar. Apparently, only the offered peanuts are edible… He doesn't really listen, the room is packed with people and the chitter-chatter hums calmingly in the back of his head… Yawn. The counter seems surprisingly comfortable.

Clonk!

A glass of beer lands soundly on top of his silver hair. A cheerful "Yo!" accompanies it.

Johnson's eyes slowly wanders up and stares. Green, almost luminous eyes stares right back from behind the counter. He almost doesn't believe it. Seemingly innocent eyes blink at him, examines his frozen state.

"Johnson, do ya know this guy?" Lisa slurs from her slouched position beside him, curious despite her intoxicated state of mind. "S'the owner!"

"So it's 'Johnson' now?" A soft laugh tickles his ears as golden hair bounce along. Ban's eyes widen, it's definitely him. Only he could ever manage to pull off that totally blank and naïve voice. The voice continues, "Didn't take you for a Johnson, Ban," and oh, how he had longed to see something so familiar again, to hear something so, so familiar again. It had been years and years and years upon years since the last time he had caught a glimpse of that bedhead.

"Cap'n!" Ban spreads his arms wide, welcoming and with a sunny smile on his face, to hug the damn guy. Hard.

"Johnson!" Meliodas slams his strong arms around Ban as well, to hug the man back. Hard. Smiling.

There is clearly a tenseness to the two, but she definitely picks up some mixed signals when she looks at her partner and back to the owner. Her drunken mind can't quite make sense of it.

Lisa looks on in confusion.


End file.
